Silent and sad they onward went. Stern Bertram shunn'd the nearer way, As, 'scaped from Brignall's dark-wood glen, VI. Of different mood, a deeper sigh [MS. "For brief the intercourse, I ween, a Close behind the George Inn at Greta Bridge, there is a well-preserved Roman encamp ment, surrounded with a triple ditch, lying between the river Greta and a brook called the Tutta. The four entrances are easily to be discerned. Very many Roman altars and monuments have been found in the vicinity, most of which are preserved at Rokeby by my friend Mr. Morritt. Among others is a small votive altar, with the inscription, LEG. VI. VIC. P. F. F., which has been rendered, Legio. Sexta. Victrix. Pia. Fortis. Fidelis. 3 This ancient manor long gave name to a family by whom it is said to have been possessed from the Conquest downward, and who are at different times distinguished in history. It was the Baron of Rokeby who finally defeated the insurrection of the Earl of Northumberland, tempore Hen. IV., of which Holinshed gives the following account:-"The King, advertised hereof, caused a great armie to be assembled, and came forward with the same towards his enemies; but yer the King came to Nottingham, Sir Thomas or (as other copies haue) Sir Rafe Rokesbie, Shiriffe of Yorkeshire, assembled the forces of the countrie to resist the Earle and his power; coming to Grimbautbrigs, beside Knaresborough, there Were northward in the dawning seen 1 Flashing her sparkling waves abroad, 1 VII. The open vale is soon pass'd o'er, to stop them the passage; but they returning aside, got to Weatherbie, and so to Tadcaster, and finally came forward unto Braham-moor, near to Haizlewood, where they chose their ground meet to fight upon. The Shiriffe was as readie to gine battell as the Erle to receiue it; and so with a standard of St. George spread, set fiercelie vpon the Earle, who, vnder a standard of his owne armes, encountered his aduersaries with great manhood. There was a sore incounter and cruell conflict betwixt the parties, but in the end the victorie fell to the Shiriffe. The Lord Bardolfe was taken, but sore wounded, so that he shortlie after died of the hurts. As for the Earle of Northumberland. he was slain outright; so that now the prophecy was fulfilled, which gaue an inkling of this his heauy hap long before, namelie, Stirps Persitina periet confusa ruina.' For this Earle was the stocke and maine root of all that were left aliue, called by the name of Persie; and of manie more by diuers slaughters dispatched. For whose misfortune the people were not a little sorrie, making report of the gentleman's valiantnesse, renowne, and honour, and applicing vnto him certeine lamentable verses out of Lucaine, saieng, 'Sed nos nec sanguis, nec tantum vulnera nostri Affecere senis: quantum gestata per urbem Ora ducis, quæ transfixo deformia pilo For his head, full of siluer horie haires, being put upon a stake, was openlie carried through London, and set vpon the bridge of the same citie: in like manner was the Lord Bardolfes." -HOLINSHED'S Chronicles. Lond. 1808, 4to, iii. 45. The Rokeby, or Rokesby family, continued to be distinguished until the great Civil War, when, having embraced the cause of Charles I., they suffered severely by fines and confiscations. The estate then passed from its ancient possessors to the family of the Robinsons, from whom it was purchased by the father of my valued friend, the present proprietor. I [MS.-"Flashing to heaven her sparkling spray, And clamouring joyful on her way."] Rokeby, though nigh, is seen no more;' That flings the froth from curb and bit, 4 2 What follows is an attempt to describe the romantic glen, or rather ravine, through which the Greta finds a passage between Rokeby and Mortham; the former situated upon the left bank of Greta, the latter on the right bank, about half a mile nearer to its junction with the Tees. The river runs with very great rapidity over a bed of solid rock, broken by many shelving descents, down which the stream dashes with great noise and impetuosity, vindicating its etymology, which has been derived from the Gothic, Gridan, to clamour. The banks partake of the same wild and romantic character, being chiefly lofty cliffs of limestone rock, whose grey colour contrasts admirably with the various trees and shrubs which find root among their crevices, as well as with the bue of the ivy, which clings around them in profusion, and hangs down from their projections in long sweeping tendrils. At other points the rocks give place to precipitous banks of earth, bearing large trees intermixed with copsewood. In one spot the dell, which is elsewhere very narrow, widens for a space to leave room for a dark grove of yew-trees, intermixed here and there with aged pines of uncommon size. Directly opposite to this sombre thicket, the cliffs on the other side of the Greta are tall, white, and fringed with all kinds of deciduous shrubs. The whole scenery of this spot is so much adapted to the ideas of superstition, that it has acquired the name of Blockula, from the place where the Swedish witches were supposed to hold their Sabbath. The dell, nowever, has superstitions of its own growth, for it is supposed to be haunted by a female spectre, called the Dobie of Mortham. The cause assigned for her appearance is a lady's having been whilom murdered in the wood, in evidence of which, her blood is shown upon the stairs of the old tower at Mortham. But whether she was slain by a jealous husband, or by savage banditti, or by an uncle who coveted her estate, or by a rejected lover, are points upon which the traditions of Rokeby do not enable us to decide. Thick as the schemes of human pride VIII. I The cliffs that rear their haughty head Waved wildly o'er the brawling stream. A dismal grove of sable yew,' With whose sad tints were mingled seen The dank and sable earth receives Its only carpet from the leaves, That, from the withering branches cast, Some straggling beams through copsewood glide; That dingle's deep and funeral shade, With the bright tints of early day, Which, glimmering through the ivy spray, On the opposing summit lay. X. The lated peasant shunn'd the dell; For Superstition wont to tell Of many a grisly sound and sight, Scaring its path at dead of night. When Christmas logs blaze high and wide, Pleasure and Pain, sit crouching near, And village maidens lose the rose. [MS. A darksome grove of funeral yew, [MS." In this dark grove 'twas twilight still, Some straggling beams of morn reposed, That bleak and dark funereal shade With the bright tints of early day, Which, struggling through the greenwood spray, 3 {MS.-"The interest rises high and higher."] |